Folkestone Book Festival: On the Origins of 'Genocide' and 'Crimes Against Humanity'

23rd November 2018

The international rights lawyer explores how personal lives and history are interwoven. Drawing from his acclaimed book, East West Street - part historical detective story, part family history, part legal thriller - he explores the emergence of the concepts of crimes against humanity and genocide, the events that overwhelmed his family during the Second World War, the legacy of 1945 and the power of memory and imagination. His talk will throw new light on our understanding of history and how civilisation has tried to cope with mass murder. East West Street won the 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize for Nonfiction.Philippe Sands is Professor of Law at University College London and a practising barrister at Matrix Chambers.